Late 18th century Sèvres hard porcelain cup and... Lot 26

Late 18th century Sèvres hard porcelain cup and saucer (2nd size) Marks in mauve under the cup the 14. 8.bre 1787 / the revolution of Paris / was made / from then the 12th of July / until the 17th of said. Of / the year 1789 and under the saucer the 14 8.bre 1787 / the 6 8.bre 1789 the King, the Queen / M.r and M.r the Dauphin . this / rendirendent a Paris. accompanied / by the brave Parisians.., marks in hollow A polychrome and gold decoration, the cup of the weapons of France impaled of a quiver with arrows and a red flamed heart with white star between two branches of myrtle, of a dove and the inscription UNION AND FREEDOM. in a gold oval cartouche, the saucer of a trophy with two white doves and a quiver in a medallion with garland of myrtle; standing out on a background in imitation of fabric with interspersed registers of myrtle garlands and radiating pink flowers, myrtle garland between two gold fillets on the rim, cup with very small chip to the rim restored and small cracks associated, small crack to the base of the handle, both with small wear and small retouching to gold D. of saucer: 13.7 cm. H. of goblet: 6.7 cm. Notes: The inscriptions and symbolism of the decoration on this goblet remain mysterious to this day. The inscriptions suggest that this goblet and its saucer could not have been decorated before the second half of 1789. Unfortunately, the very long inscriptions on the underside of both the cup and saucer do not allow us to add the marks of the manufactory or the decorators; only the hollowed-out marks, the typical shape of the cup and the quality of the enamels used confirm that this is a piece produced by the Sèvres manufactory. A large number of "small pieces" of this type appear in the Registres des travaux des peintres and the Magasin de vente of the manufactory in the following years; unfortunately, the information is often too incomplete ("souvenir" decoration) to be able to link this example to any delivery with certainty. A mention in the Registres des travaux des peintres dated 26 July 1790, could be linked to this goblet: "2 litron goblets, 2nd size, national decoration, gilder Weydinger" (Vl'3, fol.172). In any case, this goblet illustrates perfectly this period of transition which the factory knows at the end of the XVIIIth century, with a decoration with the imitation of fabric, associated with a probably patriotic decoration whose topic will arrive at its paroxysm towards 1793. Indeed, at this date, the Minister of the Interior, Count Dominique Joseph Garat, takes the decision and asks the director of the manufacture of Sevres, Antoine Régnier, "to make disappear completely in an establishment become national all that can recall the memory of the royalty and the emblems of the Despotic pride? the mark? must be replaced by a mark? which does not wound any more the glances of the man become Free and notes the national property. I believe consequently necessary to substitute from now on with the ordinary mark the word Sevres, accompanied by the initial letters of French Republic, R.F....You will want consequently to make in the shortest time all that will be necessary to operate this change in the mark of the porcelains." (Letter of July 17, 1793, Year 2) For an interesting study on the productions of this period, see the article by Christian Béalu in Art & curiosités, 'Les porcelaines révolutionnaires', Paris, 1989, n.108, pp.10-39